Rumors: Industry Report—Jeep Gladiator Pickup For 2015?

By Doran Dal Pra

August 10, 2012

In a recent interview with Australian automotive website CarAdvice, Mike Manely, president of Jeep, hinted at the company being excited about the idea of Jeep pickup and that it would make a decision to build such a vehicle "pretty soon". The pickup could be based on the next generation Jeep Wrangler and be called Gladiator. There is also the possibility it could be based on a platform other than the Wrangler's–Jeep may source one from Fiat, its parent company. We could see the Gladiator rolling into showrooms sometime in 2015 when the next Wrangler is released. Check out our March Rumors post on the concept vehicles–pickups being among them–Jeep brought to this year's Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah.

The closest Jeep currently comes to making a pickup is with the JK-8 Independence aftermarket kit from Mopar. That kit, which runs a shade under $5500 and can be installed by the owner, transforms a four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited into a two-door pickup.

Rumors and reports have been swirling about for quite some time about the rebirth of the Jeep pickup. While some have the Gladiator arriving at the end of this year, it is likely that if the US does recieve it, it won't arrive for three years or so. Reports from earlier this year also have Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne mentioning the US has a good chance of seeing a Jeep pickup if the company decides to build it.